Apparatus for making pulp articles.



"M. L. KEYES. APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTICLES. APPLICATION FILED J ULY 22, 1908.

Patented Nay. 1'7, 1908 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

2 29 MwAM/ E .5

Z M W EMMW M. L, KEYESE APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTIGLES APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1908.

Patented. Nov. 17, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. 'g j j e5: man/4w w imu fz cles, of which the following description,

i UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

MARTIN L. KEYES, or FAIREiELD, MAINE, ASSIGNOR TO KEYES FIBRE COMPANY, or v SHAWMUT, MAINE, A CORPORATION or MAINE.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PULP ARTICLES.

Application filed-J'uly 22, 1908. Serial lid 444,690.

T all whom itmwy concern: 1 P

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. KEYEs, 'a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fairfield, in the county of Somerset and State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Making Pulp Articom ection with the accompanying drawing,

is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts.

This Invention is for an improvement upon a machineor apparatus for molding articles from pulp, such as has been made the subject of previous patents granted to me,

amongflwhich I may refer to Patent No. 759,616, granted May 10, 1904, and Patent N 0. 788,138, granted April 25, 19051 A machine of this type comprises a mold having nesting faces between ,which the article is formed, a vat to contain the pulp, means to dip said mold into the pulp, means to apply suction to one face of the mold while it is immersed in the pulp, whereby a layer of.

is deposited thereon. During the continued mold member is closed against the fixed movement of the mold carrier the pivoted member andthe layer of pulp is compressed between the mold faces. During the further movement of the mold carrier the mold faces areseparated and at the same time a blast of air is forced through the face of the fixed mold member, thereby loosening the shaped article therefrom. As set forth in vsaid Patent No; 759,616, it has been found essential that all of the water should bedrained from the fixed mold member before the air is admitted to said member'for blowing oif the molded article, because if any water remains in said mold the blast ofv air will blow such water through the perforated Specification of Letters Patent.

" Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

mold face and soften the article to such a degree that it cannot be effectively handled.

The said patent provided a draining cham-' ber communicating with the interior of the fixed member, and so shapedthat by the time the mold got into'the position in which I outer air, the said valve being open subse, quent to the compressing operation and While the said mold member was still connected with the vacuum, so that the water In the said mold member and draining chamber would be swept out by the vacuum before the compressing action took place.

While the arrangement referred to has proved very efiicient' in removing the water from the-fixed mold member, yet it has been found open to's omeobjject'io'ns; The valve mounted in the fixed mold member is carried at every cycle of movement through the vat of pulp and thus becomes more or less cloggedby the pulp and frequently this pulp and other foreign matter isdrawn in through the valve when itis opened. Any pulp or foreign matter thus passing into thevalve is, of course, carried into the vacuum system to the injury and disarrangement thereof, or it is blown-by the compressed airinto-the mold face orinto the articlesbeing molded to the injury of eitheror both; Furthermore, the

valve" projecting from the fixed mold member is liableto be bent or injured by contact with some exterior object during the movement ofthe mold member. The present inventionobviates all these difficulties and secures a draft of airthrough themold member without the carrying thereinto of any pulp-or foreign matter. This is secured by providing a passageway in the preferred form, a separate pipe, connecting the chamber of the fixed mold member with a port in the central moving part or hub of the carrier for the mold, and by providing achamber open to the air in the collar or other part containing the vacuum and compressed air ports, and providing aport through which communication may be made between this air chamber and the port in the hub at the desired time, vizgwhile the fixed mold mem- The nature of the invention will more.

the means for maintaining the lubrication and cleanliness of the opposing surfaces of the revolving hub and fixed collar.

fully appear from the accompanying descriptionand drawings and will be particularly pointed-out in the claims.

The drawings illustrate so much of the apparatus of the type disclosed in the aforesaid patents as is necessary for an understanding of the invention here involved.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire apparatus shown in a somewhat conventional form for the purpose of illustrating the genera arrangement of the parts. Fig. 2 is a 'Fig. 1.

front end elevation ofthe collar on the shaftlooking in the direction of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a View showing the end of the hub of the mold carrier which is toward the front in Fig. 1 is an end elevation of the collar which faces against the end of the hub shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 is a view of the endof thehub opposite to that shown in Fig. 2. Fig. .6 is a cross-section of the hub of the moldcarrier and thecollars, taken on the line a2a; Fig. 1.

The apparatus shown in the drawing as an embodlment of theinvention is similar to that illustrated in the above-mentioned patents, and it is therefore unnecessary to describe the same in. detail.

Thepulp vat is illustrated at A mounted;

on a'suitable frame A resting on the floor A so that the vat may extend below the is mounted the shaft A to be non-rotary.

floor. at one side a supporting bracket (not shown) and at the other side the collar E in which keyed thereto so as The hub B of the mold carrier is mounted to rotate freely on the shaft A, as in said Patent No. 788,138, and is provided with the" radial hollow arms B B leading respectively to the fixed and pivoted mold members. These hollow arms open into ports' on the sides of the hub, as in said patent. The ports B being the vacuum ports and the ports B the compressed air ports .of the hollow arm-B and the -ports B being the vacuum portsand the ports B the compressed air ports for the hollow arms B In addition I provide a passageway, herein shown as formedof a small pipe C, entering'the back of the fixed mold member D, and extending along down the hollow arm B and'ter- 'tation of the latter.

The frame A has mounted thereon ceases minating near the hub 13, and flexible tube 0 extending froni the end of the pipe C to a port Copening at the face of the hubB. The chambered collars E and F are keyed to theshaft A? as shown in said Patent No. 7 88,138. A pin A projecting through is provided with a yielding or spring washer A and locking nuts A? threaded thereon. By this means the faces of the hub and of the opposing collars. are. held in intimate contact. The collar F, as in said PatentNo;

788,1 38, is provided with a vacuum chamber F 1n communication through a suitable -pipe 1 entering at F with a vacuum appathe shaft A 'abuts against the face of the v collar E while the other end of the shaft A ratus, and this chamber presents at its face.

a port F adapted at the proper time to communicate with the ports B during the,ro- This collar F is also provided with a compression port F communicating through a suitable pipe entering at F with an air compressing apparatus, and adapted to come into coinmunicationat the propertime with the port 13 during the rotation of thej'latter. The collar E, as in said Patent No. 7 88,138, is likewise provided with avacuum chamber E communicating by a suitable pipe entering at E? with the vacuum apparatus, and presenting ports E9, adapted to come into communication at the proper time with the ports B during theji'otation-ofthe latter. The collar E is also provided'with a compression port Ein communication through a suitable pipe entering at 'E with an air compressing ap-.

paratus, and adapted to come into commumcation with theiports B at the proper .time during the rotation'of the latter.

The mold members during their travel are compressed, as in the before-mentioned patents, by passin through a compressing 'device. Herein t is compressing device is in dicated at H, and is mounted at such an angle thatitsaction takes place after the molds have reached a position where the water in the fixed mold memberfD and the draining chamber D will tend to run off by gravity. I provide the-"collar E with a chamber K, open to the air and presenting. a port on the face of the collar toward the hub. A pipe K extends from the bottom of the chamber K to a point out of'reach of the pulp .spattered by the machine. The port K of this chamber K is so located that the port C will come into alinement with it when the mold reaches the position where the-water in the fixed mold member and the draining chamber 1) can run off by gravity, a position which in the construction illustrated is determined by the angle formed between the wall of the draining chamber and the axis of the arm B The port C will continue in alinement with the port .K until the correspending port- B has nearly or quite passed out of alinement with the ports of the vacuum chamb'erE and the'mold has passed out from the compressor. The port C is course, out of alinement with the .port I 'when the'compressed air is admitted to the mold through the ports B and E coming into alinement. It will thus be seen that during the compressing action and While the vacuum is in communication with the fixed mold member D, airis admitted to the said mold member, thus causing all water therein to be swept out through the vacuum systenn-and that the location of theports C and the air chamber K is such that there is no danger of pulp or foreignmatter being drawn into the mold member to be subsequently blown into the molds or the molded articles, or drawn into the vacuum system.

In order to secure the proper lubrication of the opposing surfaces of the hub B and the collars E and F I provide'in the collars mqil -shafts E and F respectively, from which small transverse holes E, F, respectively, communicate with the surface of the collar. The revolving hub takes up the oil thus fed to the face of the collar and transmits it to the entire opposing surfaces. By this construction a small oil cup may be placed at the top of the oil-shaft and the oil supplied steadily and evenly without carrying in any grit or dirt. I have found in the operation of this hub that foreign matters work in'between the surfaces 'of thehub and the surfaces of'the collars, and being confined' there serve'to score and Wear the surfaces, thus injuring the air joints which it is necessary to maintain. To prevent this and ,enable the escape of any such foreign matter or substances I provide in the face of each collar and F respectively, a downwardly inclined groove E and F respectively. Any foreign substance being caught be-- tween the hub andlthe collar will be carried The ports B and B of the hub B are prefv crably formed as separate plugs of hard metal, so that they can be removed and repaired or replaced. 'Eo enable'the removal of these plugs and the cleaning'of the small ports therein to which the compressed air passes I provide clean-out holes E and If in the collars E and F respectively.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I

1. In an apparatus of the class described, a pulp containing vat, a two-part mold comto receive a layer thereof, means automatic ally to exhaust the air from said member during and after its immersion, means to compress said members with the pulp layer therebetween, means to loosen the shaped article from the mold by a blast of air, an air passageway communicating with saidhollow mold member and terminating at a fixed point above the liquid levelof said vat, means for maintaining said passageway normally closed and for opening it during the continuance of the action of the air exhausting means, and-before the admission of the air blast. I i

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a pulp containing vat, a two-part mold comprising a hollow mold member provided with a draining chamber, and a cooperating haust the air from said member during and after -its immersion, means to compress said members with the pulp layer therebetween, 4

means to loosen the shaped article from the mold by a blast of air, an air passageway communicating with said draining chamber and terminating at a fixed point exterior to said vat, means for maintaining said passageway normally closed and for opening it during the continuance of the action of the air-exhausting means, and before the admis sion of the air blast.

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

a pulp containing vat, a revolving mold-carrier comprising. a hub having 'a series of radially-arranged arms extended therefrom, each arm having fixed thereto a hollow mold member provided with a perforated face, the said hub presenting three series of ports in communication with said hollow mold members, a cooperating mold member for each of said hollow mold members, a fixed collar preof register of the first series with the vacuum and an open-air port, means whereby as the mold carrier rotates the hollow mold mem bers are.successively immersed in the pulp and one of said series of ports are simultaneously brought into register with the vacuum port, subsequently and before the passing out of register of the first series with the vacuum port the second series of ports are brought into register with the open-air port, and then after the passing out of register of the first series with the vacuum port and of the second series with the open-air port the third series of ports are brought into register with the compressed air port, and means for comsequent to the immersion of the first mold member in the vat and before the registration of the third series of ports with the compressed air port.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a

pulp contaimng vat, a two-part traveling mold comprising a hollow mold member provided with a draining chamber, a cooperating mold member having cooperating perforated faces, means periodically to mmerse such hollow mold member in the pulp, means automatically to exhaust the air from said member during and after its immersion, means to compress said members with the pulp layer therebetween, means to loosen the shaped article from the mold by a blast of air, an air passageway communicating with said draining chamber and terminating in a port, a port in a'fiXed portion of the apparatus in the path of travel of thefirst port and open-.

' diallyarranged hollow arms extended therefrom, each arm having fixed thereto a hollow" mold member provided with a perforated face, a cooperating mold member for each of said hollow mold members, three series of ports on the face of said hub the first and second series being in communication with said hollow arms, series being severally connected by pipes with thehollow mold members, a fixed collarmounted with its face against thevface of the hub and provided with a vacuum chamber having a port in the path of the first serles of ports, also w th a compressed air port inline with the path of the second, series of ports, and also with an open air port in line with-the path of the third series of ports, means for maintaining a vacuum in said vacuum chamber, and means for supplying compressed air to said compressed air port, meanswherebyv as the mold carrier ro tates the hollow mold members are successively immersed in the pulp and the corresponding members of the first series of ports are simultaneously brought into register with the port of the vacuum chamber, and before the passing out of register of the first series of ports the corresponding members of the second series of ports are brought into regis ter with the open-air port, and thereupon after the passing out of register of the first series with the port of the vacuum chamber and the second series with the open-air port the members of the third series of ports are and the third brought into register with the compressed air port, and means for compressing the two mold members together subsequent to the immersion of the first .mold member in the vat and before the registration of the third series of ports.

6. In an'ap'paratus of the class described, a fixed shaft, a hub freely revoluble thereon and presenting oppositely-disposed fiat faces, ports in the faces of said hubs adapted to connect with the mold members tobe carried by said hub, a pair of collars one mounted at each side of the said hub and provided with flat'faces cooperating with the faces of the hub, means for preventing the rotation of the collars with respect to the shaft, means for yieldingly pressing the collars and hub together;

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a fixed shaft, a hub freely revolublethereon and presenting oppositely disposed flat faces, ports in the facesof said hubs adapted to connect with the'mold members to be carried by said hub, a pair of collars one mounted at each side of the said hub'and provided with flat faces cooperating with the faces of the hub, means for preventing the rotation .of the collars with respectto the shaft, an

inclinedv groove formed in the face of each of said collars adapted to catch any foreign substance caught between the surfaces of the collar and the hub and direct it out from between said surfaces. s

B. In an apparatus of the class described, a fixed shaft, a hub freely revoluble thereon and presenting oppositely-disposed flat faces,

ports in the faces] of said'hubs adapted to a connect with the mold members'to be carried by said'hub, a pair of collars one mounted at each side of the said hub and provided with fiat faces cooperating with the faces of the hub, means for preventing the rotaa vertically-arranged oil shaft in said collar,

oil holes communicating from said shaft to' the surface of said' collar for lubricating the opposing surfacesof said collar and hub.

9. In an apparatus of. the class described,

.tion of the collars with. respect to the shaft, Y

a rotary hub, connections in the periphery.

thereof adapted to receive a series of hollow mold carrying arms, a second seriesjof connections in the periphery thereof located respectively between the members of the first series of connections and adapted to receive a pipe for transmitting air to the hollow mold members, three series of ports on the face of said hub, two of the said series being in communication with the connections to the hollow arms, and one 'of said series being in communication with the connections for the air pipes. r s 1 ,10. In an apparatus of the class described,

a rotary hub, a series of radially-arranged I passages therein adapted to be connected to plugs of hard metal each provided 'with a port located in said hub one for each of said chambers and inserted and removable from the face of the hub, a fixed collar havingtits face fitting against the face ofthe hub, a compressed air port in said collar located in the path of travel of the said plugs, a clean-out hole in said collar'locatedin the path of travel of said plugs, and means for 10 closing said clean-out hole.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

MARTIN L. KEYES.

Witnesses: MABEL PARTELOW,

THOMAS J. DRUMMOND; v 

